Ever since Norah was little she wanted to visit the Catacombs - today she finally was able to do so! We booked the first time slot and went early to the neighborhood for pastries from Le Péché de Gourmandise and then we happened by La Meringaie and I couldn’t resist (fresh fruit on a meringue - delicious!). I’m glad we purchased tickets ahead of time because when we lined up a number of people were turned away because tickets were sold out that day.

Much of the Left Bank area rests upon rich Lutetian limestone deposits. A network of tunnels and old quarries date back to at least the 15th century when the stone was mined to help build the city. In the 18th century several things happened that led to the creation of the Catacombs. The old quarries were beginning to collapse under a developing Paris and overcrowding of cemeteries in the city was creating a public health crisis. To kill two birds with one stone, the decision was made to transfer the remains of six million people underground in the old quarries. This helped shore up the old mines against collapse and eased the crowding in the cemeteries. Preparation work of the quarries started in the 1770’s and in the 1780’s transfer of the remains began. The remains were transported at night by wagon and accompanied by priests.

Initially the ossuary was an unorganized jumble of bones. In the 1810’s the director of the Paris Mine Inspection Service had renovations done, such as stacking the skulls and femurs in patterns and incorporating cemetery decorations, to transform the Catacombs to a suitable mausoleum. The Catacombs were opened to public visitation in 1874. To visit the Catacombs today, you enter at Place Denfert-Rochereau and descend 131 steps down to reach the tunnels that are 65 feet below street level. The one mile route is one way and requires 112 stairs to climb at the exit. This was definitely a unique experience and an interesting excursion.

Across the street from the Catacombs entrance is the newly opened, free Musée de la Libération de Paris. This museum dedicated to the French resistance and liberation was originally in Montparnasse and the City of Paris wanted a location with more visibility for the museum. The museum was moved to its current location and reopened with revamped exhibits on August 25, 2019, the 75th anniversary of the capital’s liberation. This site also has historical significance as the basement contains a defense shelter used as a command post by Colonel Roi, head of the French Forces of the Interior, during the Liberation of Paris August 20-28, 1944. The bunker is open to the public, it just requires a free ticket for one of the tour times. We got a kick out of the bicycles that were there in case the backup system failed. Peloton needs to up their game. Nothing like the pressure of a gas attack and a failed system to get you pedaling.

While the museum has exhibits about the different aspects of the resistance and the people involved, there are two Frenchmen the museum focuses on: General Leclerc and Jean Moulin. Philippe de Hauteclocque was an officer that refused to accept the defeat in 1940 and continued to fight in the ranks of Free France. He took the pseudonym Leclerc as his nom de guerre to protect his family. The other man, Jean Moulin, served in a different capacity. He was a civil servant who was tasked with unifying the different factions of the French Resistance and giving credence to De Gaulle as their leader. He formed the National Council of the Resistance and served as its first president until he was betrayed and captured by the Gestapo. He was tortured and killed not long after. Overall I thought the museum was really well done with great info about the resistance and honoring those who risked their lives.

This was another day we modified our original plans. With the strike planned, it was possible Musée d'Orsay would be closed tomorrow when we planned to go, so we decided to go ahead and visit this afternoon just in case (with the Paris Museum Pass we didn't have to a reserved time slot, so it was easy to switch this). But first we had lunch at La Belle Ronde before jumping on the Metro. They had a nice lunch deal with a set price for a savory crêpe, desert crêpe, and a drink. It was a cute cafe and a tasty lunch. We certainly ate our fill of crêpes this week!

With the Paris Museum Pass we didn’t need a time slot reservation for Musée d'Orsay and basically bypassed the line. The museum is housed in a cool building that used to be a railway station. It was inaugurated in 1900 for the World Fair with a luxurious hotel and a grand reception room. Eventually, the station was outdated due to modernization of the trains and was abandoned. In 1977 the government decided to turn it into a museum and Musée d'Orsay was inaugurated in 1986. The museum displays art from the western world from 1848-1914 (from the establishment of the Second Republic to the outbreak of WWI). The main attraction here is the collection of impressionist paintings and that is what we were most interested in seeing. We headed straight for the collection and spent time admiring the gorgeous artwork. Afterwards we visited the post-impressionism exhibit on the same floor then made our way back downstairs.

When I was reading about Musée d'Orsay in the Rick Steve's guidebook, I laughed when I read "We've seen some great art. Now let's see some not-so-great art - at least that's what modern critics tell us. ... A director of the Orsay once said "Certainly, we have bad paintings. But we have only the greatest bad paintings". Well, I think we found that art in one of the side galleries on the ground floor. I don’t know what the critics have to say about The Knight of Flowers by Georges Rochegrosse, but we couldn’t help but giggle while looking at it.

After we saw everything we wanted to see at Musée d'Orsay we walked back to our hotel to rest for a bit before our car tour. We had booked a 2CV car tour in the evening for a two hour drive around Paris. 2CV refers to the Citroën 2CV, a car produced by the French company Citroën from 1948 to 1990. The tour was customizable and we arranged to be picked up and dropped off at our hotel. Driving at night was a cool way to see the city lit up - we could cover a lot of ground, see the highlights, learn tidbits from our guide, and traffic was very sparse at that hour, so it was easy to get around (and the little 2CV was perfect for some of the narrow roads). Our driver timed the route so we could see the Eiffel Tower when it sparkled and we got a nice picture there. This was a great way to cap off our day.